By TRACY JOHNSON, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Published 10:00 pm, Tuesday, April 29, 2003

A man already serving 60 years in prison for killing his wife pleaded not guilty today to charges that he tried to burn down the Bellevue home of his former mother-in-law and young son.

Dressed in a red jail uniform, Steven Sherer told the judge that he'd done a lot of legal research and wanted to object to the charge filed by King County prosecutors.

"I believe it's my constitutional right to an indictment by a grand jury," Sherer said.

Superior Court Judge Michael Trickey noted the objection but suggested that Sherer do further research, explaining that criminal charges can come from either prosecutors or a grand jury in this state.

A trial date as not yet been set.

Earlier this month, investigators said they learned -- from an unnamed informant and Sherer's former cellmate -- that Sherer was plotting to give the cellmate $17,000 worth of jewelry to exact revenge on people who helped put him in prison. They alleged that Sherer, 41, arranged the arson and also planned to "do a hit" on a deputy prosecutor.

Investigators monitored Sherer's phone calls and even staged a fake arson at his former mother-in-law's Bellevue home, persuading an Eastside newspaper to write about it in order to build their case. They say Sherer read the fake story and believed his plot had been carried out.

Sherer was convicted two years ago of killing his 26-year-old wife, Jami, in 1990. Her body has never been found.